Pressure continues to grow on Capitol Hill for the Department of Transportation to reverse its policy on the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program with another bill introduced that prohibits the recent changes made to the program. Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) introduced The BARR Preservation Act of 2011 (H.R. 2897) to continue the full program, which enables aircraft owners to request that their tail numbers be removed from displays of near-real-time flight tracking programs.
BOMBARDIER DHC-8-400 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2011-0381; Directorate Identifier 2010-NM-203-AD; Amendment 39-16799; AD 2011-18-17] – Revise the maintenance program by incorporating a new task for the main landing gear (MLG) stabilizer extension springs. This AD, which resulted from an MCAI originated by Transport Canada, was prompted by several failures of MLG stabilizer extension springs. The MLG may not lock in the down-lock position if both MLG stabilizer extension springs are missing, which could result in the collapse of the gear.
Gama Aviation, an international business aviation services company, has made a number of management changes. Steve Wright has been promoted to COO and accountable manager. Wright co-founded Gama with Marwan Khalek in 1983 and was chief pilot until 1991. Steve Woodfine has been promoted to chief pilot. He was previously a fleet manager. Ian Cheese joined Gama as director of flight operations. He came from U.K. low-fare regional airline Flybe, where he was general manager for turboprops. Brian Cozens is Gama Aviation’s new head of training.
NEIL BURGESS was appointed director, financial institutions group for CIT Aerospace. Burgess rejoins CIT Aerospace from Amentum Capital, where he was responsible for aircraft leasing, new deal origination and asset sales. Before that, he served with CIT Aerospace for six years, holding various positions, including aircraft trading, third-party financing and airline marketing.
Baldwin Aviation Safety & Compliance, a Hilton Head, S.C.-based consultancy, has launched a program to support safety efforts of the owner/operator of fixed and rotary wing aircraft. SMSace was developed to provide business aircraft owners/operators “with a unique set of tools for a structured safety program,” says President and CEO Don Baldwin. “We created a standardized business operations manual that is the foundation for a typical one-aircraft/one-pilot operation safety management system.
Milestone Aviation, a global finance company, has leased four new Eurocopter EC-145 helicopters to Transportes Aereos Pegaso, a Mexican air transport company. The transaction represents Milestone’s first with Pegaso and its first acquisition of new Eurocopter helicopters in a deal valued at more than $28 million. “We are delighted to celebrate our partnership with a first-class operator in Pegaso, as well as our first transaction with Eurocopter, the world’s largest civil helicopter manufacturer,” says Richard Santulli, Milestone’s chairman.
ADAM COOPERSTOCK has rejoined CIT Aerospace as assistant vice president, financial institutions group. Cooperstock is responsible for transactions analysis, new business asset sales and financing alternatives. He most recently served with Seabury Group, where he managed operating lease and loan financings. Cooperstock previously spent two years with CIT Aerospace, evaluating purchasing and financing transactions.
MARK PHILLIPS has joined satcom communications specialist SkyTrac as CFO. He previously spent 25 years managing finance for Northern Airborne Technology, helping steer the company from startup to a leader in airborne communications equipment with facilities in Canada and the U.S., and later as a fully owned subsidiary of Cobham.
JULIE ANDERSON was named regional sales manager for West Star Aviation. Anderson is responsible for sales in the Western states, including Arizona, California and Nevada. Anderson recently served with Med Air, where she held sales positions, working with directors of maintenance, chief pilots and directors of aviation.
FAA this summer published new operational procedures at Henderson Executive Airport (HND) in Nevada. The procedures were expected to facilitate travel to the airport in time for next month’s National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Annual Meeting and Convention in Las Vegas. But NBAA officials have become concerned that those procedures have yet to take root with most operators, since there have been a number of instances in which aircraft operators have yet to use them when flying into HND.
Eurocontrol is taking the final regulatory steps toward becoming the network manager for the European air traffic management system, a role that will be crucial to the success of the Single European Sky (SES) effort. The agency says it is seeking the formal approval of its member states to accept the nomination as network manager. It has recently received the formal nominating letter from the European Commission.
The new and used fixed-wing and rotorcraft markets continue to provide mixed signals as the second half of 2011 begins, says aviation consultancy Jetnet.
Former Cessna executive Robert Stangarone has been named vice president of corporate communications, North America for Embraer. Stangarone will be based at the company’s U.S. headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Last month, he resigned from Cessna, where he had worked in a similar position for six years. He has a long history in aviation communications, having worked as managing editor of Business & Commercial Aviation magazine, and has held senior communications positions with Pratt & Whitney, Sikorsky, Rolls-Royce North America and Fairchild Dornier.
PIAGGIO P-180 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2011-0954; Directorate Identifier 2011-CE-028-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to replace defective main landing gear (MLG) actuators with serviceable ones, per the instructions of Piaggio Aero Industries Mandatory Service Bulletin No. 80-0304 (dated July 9, 2010). This proposal, which resulted from an MCAI originated by the European Aviation Safety Agency, was prompted by the discovery that some actuator lock sleeves had been incorrectly manufactured.
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) called the government effort to remove privacy protections from business jet movements disturbing, saying the Department of Transportation is “bizarrely using” government transparency as reasoning for its changes to the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program.
KARIN-JOYCE TJON was appointed CFO for Hawker Beechcraft, where she will be responsible for the management and direction of the company’s finance and accounting organization. She comes from Alvarez & Marsal, a global professional services firm, where she was a managing director.
DEREK ZIMMERMAN was named to the newly created position of vice president, product support materials for Gulfstream Aerospace, where he will oversee the material supply chain, parts sales and worldwide parts distribution for the company’s product support organization. He formerly served with Piper Aircraft, where he was vice president of supply chain and aftermarket development.
Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) is expected to propose an extension to the FAA’s operating authority, changing the expiration date to the end of the calendar year in a bill that does not immediately appear controversial.
A House panel is recommending $12.6 billion for the FAA in fiscal 2012, increasing the agency’s budget by $233 million over fiscal 2011 and fully funding the next generation air traffic modernization system, according to the House transportation appropriations subcommittee. And although it is a $485 million cut relative to what President Obama proposed in February, any kind of increase over fiscal 2011 seems remarkable in an environment where deficit reduction has become the focus of Capitol Hill.
Diamond Aircraft has resumed flight-testing of its D-Jet prototypes, following the temporary grounding in late March that stemmed from a cash shortfall and led to furloughs of most people working on the single-jet program. The one-hour flight of D-Jet 003, its first flight since March 27, included shakedown of aircraft systems, control sweeps, gear cycling, flap cycling, verification of navigation equipment and software, several touch-and-goes and completion of some control-system test points, according to the company.
KEN MOON was appointed regional manager, aircraft sales division for Innotech-Execaire Aviation Group. He will oversee Cessna Citation sales and brokerage of used aircraft worldwide. He has worked with several business aircraft companies, both as an employee and owner. He joins Innotech with a background in business aircraft operations and technical support, particularly in Western Canada.
FAA has approved modifications to a $1.16 billion, three-part plan for terminal construction and runway expansion at Broward County’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Demolition of properties to extend the South Runway (9R-27L) to 8,000 ft. and widen it to 150 ft. is scheduled for later this year or early 2012. The runway extension will require construction of bridges over a railroad and U.S. Highway 1. The bridges will be about 60 ft. high at the eastern end and offer a 45-ft. clearance for the rail cars.
